Why Are We So Lost?

Before ABC's Lost debuted, the question was out there: Is the show's mysterious island on Earth?

Yes, executive producer J.J. Abrams told TV critics last summer: "The fact that you would ask that question is one of the things that gets me excited."

The queries keep coming from absorbed fans, who turned the drama into a surprise hit. Lost started with a plane crash that deposited 48 survivors on a remote island (the series films in Hawaii). The show has intertwined their traumatic pasts with the isle's lush weirdness.

The two-hour season finale airs at 8 tonight on WFTV-Channel 9. Sentinel television critic Hal Boedeker explores why Lost has become the ultimate fantasy island.

The mystery: In these tropics, you'll find a polar bear, a towering monster (unseen by viewers so far), a shipwreck, a crashed plane and apparitions of the dead. So where are we? Abrams has inferred that the island isn't purgatory. Is it home to a government conspiracy or an extraterrestrial intervention. Abrams isn't saying a lot. Why should he? He doesn't want to spoil the story.

Flashbacks: They give this adventure unusual emotional depth. The strongest castaway story so far belongs to Locke (Terry O'Quinn). The most confusing is the twisted past of Kate (Evangeline Lilly). If you want to catch up, ABC will rerun the series at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, starting next week. The DVD comes out in September.

The raft: It has been a source of friction and mystery, especially for Michael (Harold Perrineau) and son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley). But in a rousing scene last week, they and two others set off on the craft. Don't expect a long journey. ABC hints that the four are "surprised at sea by something they didn't expect."

The Frenchwoman: The wild-eyed Danielle (Mira Furlan) popped in last week to tell her story. Her ship went aground 16 years ago. Soon after, "the others" took her newborn. That was news to frighten new mother Claire (Emilie de Ravin). Danielle speaks in cryptic tones that would make her a natural for The Twilight Zone.

The portal: This contraption looks like a vault that gives off an otherworldly glow. Is it a New Age septic tank? An alien spacecraft? A throwback to Pandora's box? It has bewitched Locke. We could learn more tonight when the castaways try to blow it open. Or it could be the big cliffhanger.

The puzzle: The castaways' lives fit together in enthralling and intricate ways. Sawyer (Josh Holloway) passed on a dead man's thoughts to Jack (Matthew Fox). The same numbers keep cropping up. "Each one of us was brought here for a reason," a character says tonight. So what does it all mean? Maybe it's fate. It certainly is good television.